Mexico

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that Mexico is having a real problem with violent crime. Everywhere you look there is some report or news article about heads being rolled into a disco, the bodies of policemen found mutilated, etc… We are told it is largely due to organized crime that is funded by drug money.

The more I think of it the less credibility this theory has. The level of crime that is attributed to organized crime is off the chart. Presumably the crime bosses have huge haciendas that they live in. It wouldn’t be terribly hard to surround the one one of the bosses is staying in with police. Then ask to talk to the boss. With the level of crime and violence they are involved with shooting will almost certainly start. Then the government has criminal acts committed in front of the police, IE, shooting at police. That there are no arrests made of the bosses cries out that the government is involved.

How much of the government? Quite a bit I would speculate. With the violence and atrocious acts committed and so little effective action taken on the part of the government the involvement must be pretty high. The US has sent millions and millions of dollars to fight crime in Mexico. The Mexican army has been fielded to carry out operations against the crime bosses… but there is no movement. The crime bosses seem to be winning. This would only be possible if elements of the government are involved with the crime bosses.

This level of corruption bodes poorly for the people of Mexico. They have seen their real wealth drop since 1900 dramatically. (Along with the rest of Latin America). People in the US should be buying things from Mexico… not from China. Not because China is bad but because of the proximity to Mexico. Why is the stuff that requires a lot of man hours of labor, thus requiring low wages, made in China not Mexico?

Two main reasons. Corruption in government and ease of doing business. What business man in his or her right mind would open a factory in Mexico now? When traveling to the plant you would have to have an corps of security guards to keep you from being kidnapped. Your workers would be subject to violence and kidnappings lowering their productivity. Lastly you never know in Latin America if another Hugo Chavez will come to power and nationalize, steal, your new factory before it has paid for itself.

So, despite it’s proximity to the largest market on Earth and a free trade pact with the US, Mexico is faltering. The government has too many corrupt elements. Like a wasp with nematodes crawling from it before it dies we are watching the death of a country.

It doesn’t need happen. Mexico could enact the NUMA. Mexico is teeming with good people. They could be tapped to start a NUMA. Stomp out corruption in government in Mexico and see how fast violent crime from organized crime disappears. Clean up the government and watch the economy ignite. Allow the people of Mexico to be free of terror and be startled at the productivity gains. In short Mexico has but one real problem… The rest stem from it.